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My CP70B gear-pr0n


willi

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It's been almost a month since I got my CP70B from a guy here in town. It cost me $1100. It's in decent shape; there are some tolex scratches, and it's missing a leg brace and pedal chain, but all the keys work great, it's pretty much in tune, the pedal and standard cases were included, and the guy delivered it to my apartment and helped me get it upstairs and set up. The amplifier board was also reflowed a while back, but it seems to be functioning fine. It's pretty obvious the original owner gigged it; then I bought it from the second owner who has had it in his living room for the past 10 years.

 

I love it. It's great. It makes my Wurlitzer feel like a toy piano. I mean I still love my Wurli's, but the weight of the key, the feel of the action, the additional keys, deeper bass, significantly longer sustain, and resonance of the strings when sustaining, all make it feel much more like a 'real' piano. It makes me lust after a CP80M.

 

It is big and heavy, but it also feels pretty solid. The tremolo at times does not seem as obvious as I had imagined it, but it also seems like I can do a better job of hearing it now, so perhaps it just takes some getting used to -- or is it possible that it could need a capacitor replaced or a trim pot adjusted?

 

It looks like the strings actually rest directly on the piezo pickups, is that normal?

 

There is a bit of a buzzy resonance in the upper register. Is this normal or common? I don't see anything obviously rattling around, but I have considered going to all screws and checking to see if they are secure. Can this be something caused by tuning? Or could it be related to the proximity of the strings to the pickups? This buzzing noise doesn't seem to get amplified much...

 

Kind of annoying that the volume control doesn't work when using the balanced XLR outputs. What is the reasoning behind this?

 

The pics are taken with the lid off, but it did include the lid and standard cases.

 

cp70-01.jpg

 

 

cp70-02.jpg

 

 

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Amplifier/Tremolo board

 

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Internal power supply

 

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The second owner did not know why the first owner had made these marks..

 

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One string has been replaced but it is not in this range. Perhaps these strings were difficult to tune in the past?

 

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Strings seem to be just barely touching the piezo pickups.

 

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And now the string pr0n begins...

 

cp70-09.jpg

3 of the 4 sections of strings

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If you haven't done so already, perhaps you should have the piano inspected/adjusted/tuned by a professional piano technician. It's likely you could find someone who has experience maintaining these things. If not, I know that a regular ol' piano technician would be able to provide more insight into the goings-on inside a CP70B than I ever could.

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I wouldn't waste any energy pining for a CP80. The additional low strings sound like {censored}e due to being so short.


You already have the most desirable model!

 

 

Hehe, to be honest I kind of like the clunky bass, and having grown up on an 88 key acoustic upright I miss not having the extra range. I'd really like to see some controllers with the extra octave on the bottom like a Bosendorfer has, or even 128 key models...

 

That said I don't have much room left in my apartment, and the additional weight would have been undesirable. But I think the models with Midi are ultimately the most desirable models.. it would make a truly excellent weighted controller. Listening to various Billy Joel tracks trying to find CP's in use has lead me to believe many of those tracks were using an 'M' model for extra strings or pads, etc.

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I played both CP60M and CP70, and I like the feel and action of the CP70 better. Soundwise I can tell that the CP70 sounds a bit more "electric".

Physically the CP70's keys are bigger and feel heavier, with higher action. The CP60M is lighter to play and has the built in MIDI, tremolo and a 7 band EQ.

 

You can check the tune on my MySpace for the CP60M sound ;)

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My CP60M and Prophet 5 (fully working now, awaiting for a back/bottom panel)


cp60m%20p5%202.jpg

 

You don't see too many CP-60Ms. The upright seems like a good configuration for both home and the road. Does it stay in tune?

 

Also, congrats on your successful P5 repair.

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Thanks ! ;)

 

Yep, they're rare. Mine stays in tune very well. In fact, I had it tuned a few months ago even though it really only needed fine tuning for the lowest octaves, and all that after I had it transported between 3 different apartments.

 

To tell the truth, I'm not satisfied with how it is tuned now. It looks like the last piano tuner trusted his ears and almost didn't use an electronic tuner.

You can notice the imperfect pitch when playing along with digital synths...

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